Utah man sought on warrant in Farmington robbery

Police say Bryan Holliday robbed and stripped three people at gunpoint

By Steve Garrison The Daily Times

Updated:
08/19/2014 05:54:30 PM MDT

Bryan Holliday (Courtesy of San Juan County Adult Detention Center)

FARMINGTON — The Farmington Police Department has obtained a warrant for a 35-year-old Navajo man suspected of robbing a young man at gunpoint during a party near Farmington Lake.

Detective Bob Pimentel said that Bryan Holliday, of Aneth, Utah, is being sought on a $75,000 cash bond for charges that include aggravated robbery, aggravated assault and false imprisonment.

Pimentel said that Holliday and another man, known only as "Damien," met with two men and one woman, all in their late teens and early 20s, at the 7/11 convenience store at 900 E. 20th St. on the evening of June 28. Holliday invited them to drink with him at Farmington Lake in northeast Farmington and they purchased alcohol at a gas station in Flora Vista.

The group partied at the lake until about 3 or 4 a.m. the next morning, Pimentel said, but Holliday grew hostile after discovering his wallet was missing. Pimentel said Holliday pulled out a firearm and ordered the teenagers to strip down to their underwear.

The two men did so, but the woman refused. He told the men to leave and tried to forcibly strip the woman, but she managed to escape. She reported that she heard gunshots as she was fleeing and police later located three shell casings at the scene.

Holliday allegedly stole one of the men's iPods during the incident, Pimentel said.

Pimentel said police were able to identify Holliday through surveillance footage obtained from the Flora Vista gas station. The footage was sent to several detention facilities, one of which identified the individual as Holliday. One of the alleged victims positively identified Holliday as the shooter after viewing a booking photo, Pimentel said.

Pimentel said Holliday is considered armed and dangerous. Anyone with information regarding his whereabouts should contact the Farmington police detective's bureau at 505-599-1005.

Holliday is also being sought on a federal warrant for violating probation in a 2005 case filed in the U.S. District Court of Utah. According to court records, Holliday, identified in some of the documents as "Brian Holiday," was indicted by a grand jury in July 2004 for two counts of assault on an individual with a firearm on the Navajo Nation. Court records do not provide information on the incident that prompted the charges and the U.S. Department of Justice did not respond to a request for information.

Holliday pleaded guilty in February 2005 to one count of assault with a firearm and was sentenced to seven years in prison and 60 months of supervised release.

According to court records, he violated his parole after being arrested in San Juan County in January 2012 for drunken driving and aggravated fleeing of a law enforcement officer. An arrest warrant was issued, but not executed, court records state.